Cooperative Living September 2022 - 28

EXPLOREMORE
Two Rivers, Three States
and a Lot of Paddling
by Amanda S. Creasey, Outdoors Writer
A whitewater rafting adventure in Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry
is where the
Shenandoah River
merges with the
Potomac.
O
in
f
our
we
utdo
n a Monday morning in late
July, I drive my friend Caitlyn,
my husband and myself to
River Riders Family Adventure Resort
in Harpers Ferry,W.Va., with a forecast
arp rs
y,
or severe thunderstorms looming over
our heads.
for severe thunderst
ut no one ha contacted us to say
our whitewater rafting excursion has
been canceled or po
But no one has c
en cancele or postponed, and, when
we pull into the parking lot, River Riders
isi bustling with peo
nt
adv
the
s bustlingwith people preparing for
outdoor adventures - stepping into
harnesses for ziplining, renting lockers
for valuables or, like us, watching a 10minute
safety video about how not to
die while rafting class I, II and III rapids.
When the film ends and everyone
es
st
pi
nt
is sufficiently terrified, I know what
happens if someone falls out of the raft,
but I want to know what happens if
storms roll in while we're out on the
water. Nobody else asks any questions,
though, so I keep mine to myself.
Twenty-three anxious but excited
participants, myself among them, and
26 ● Cooperative Living ●
September 2022
six guides board a bus for the short ride
to the put-in. With our helmets in our
laps, our personal flotation devices
around our torsos and our paddles
standing upright beside us, we look like
soldiers heading to battle. Our PFDs
are our armor and our paddles are our
javelins and spears.
tanding
oldiers
are
our
avel ns
ight beside us, we look like
to battle. Our PFDs
our
velins and spears.
A LOT OF WHAT IFS
As we ride, one of the guides tells us
that his favorite-ever paddle happened in
ha
rite-ever paddle happened in
are our
a downpour. So, I think, he believes it's
going to storm, too, and wants to placate
us preemptively.
The put-in sits along a wide, flat, calm
stretch of the Shenandoah River, hardly
white water. As the guides unload the
rafts and tighten our PFDs, I watch first
a goldfinch and then a hummingbird fly
above the railroad tracks behind us.
Hummingbirds are good luck, I tell
myself. Maybe it won't storm.
My husband, Caitlyn and I settle into
a raft with our guide, Ashley, who tells
us rain makes for a great paddle. So, she's
anticipating storms, too. Once again,
I stifle my urge to ask " what happens if? "
For a few minutes, we paddle along
FUN FACT: U.S. soldiers invented
the rubber river raft in the 1840s.
the calm surface of the Shenandoah, still
too shy to show us its real rage. Caitlyn
and I sit in the front of the raft, my
husband behind Caitlyn, and Ashley
in the back. She has us practice a few
basics: Lean forward, lean back, paddle
forward, paddle back. She tells us if
someone falls out, everyone's first
priority is to get them back in the boat.
co-opliving.com
PHOTOS BY AMANDA S. CREASEY
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living September 2022

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